Skanda Purana — Avanti Khanda, Shloka 23
षण्मुखात्षण्मुखो नाम कार्त्तिकेयस्तु कृत्तिकात् । कुमारश्च कुमारत्वाद्गङ्गागर्भोऽग्निजोऽपरः
ṣaṇmukhātṣaṇmukho nāma kārttikeyastu kṛttikāt | kumāraśca kumāratvādgaṅgāgarbho'gnijo'paraḥ
چھ چہرے ہونے کے سبب وہ ‘شنمکھ’ کہلایا؛ اور کِرتِکاؤں کے سبب ‘کارتّکیہ’ کے نام سے معروف ہوا۔ ہمیشہ نوخیز رہنے کے باعث ‘کمار’ کہا گیا؛ اور ‘گنگاگربھ’ نیز ‘اگنیج’—یعنی آگ سے پیدا ہونے والا—بھی اس کے نام ہیں۔
Sūta (Lomaharṣaṇa) to the sages (deduced: Āvantya Khaṇḍa narrative style)
Tirtha: Gaṅgā (Gaṅgā-garbha); Agni (Agnija); Kṛttikā (nakṣatra sanctity)
Type: kshetra
Listener: Bhārata (contextual)
Scene: A composite iconographic tableau: Skanda shown with six faces (Ṣaṇmukha), a starry Kṛttikā cluster above, Agni as a radiant flame-form to one side, and Gaṅgā as a flowing goddess-river below; inscriptions of names around the halo.
FAQs
Divine names preserve sacred history: each epithet encodes a dharmic meaning and a lineage of divine care and purpose.
Gaṅgā is honored through the epithet Gaṅgā-garbha, portraying her as a sanctified bearer of the divine child.
None; the verse is a theological naming (nāma-māhātmya) that supports devotion through remembrance.